Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 4

[MacRumors]

Apple released the fourth beta of iOS 26 today, and the company has continued making changes to the way that Liquid Glass looks. There are also new features, including the return of Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries for news. This beta is of particular interest because it's likely the beta that public beta testers will get in the not too distant future.

Liquid Glass Changes

Liquid Glass is more translucent in beta 4, with Apple walking back some of the opacity changes that it introduced in beta 3.

Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right​

Menu bars in apps like Photos, Music, and the App Store are now feature more transparency, allowing more of the background color to show through.

Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right​

On the Lock Screen, when you scroll through notifications, the background gets darker. The darker tone improves the readability of text.

Beta 4 on right, beta 3 on left​

Notification Summaries

Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries are available for News and Entertainment apps again. Apple removed summaries for news articles back in January to improve the feature, and now it's ready for testing again.

At the time, Notification Summaries were producing misleading news headlines by picking up and combining the wrong information in articles. Apple says the feature should work better now, and that testing will continue throughout the iOS 26 beta.

After updating to iOS 26, you'll see a pop up for enabling the summary feature for different app categories. You can choose to get news summaries or opt out. All notification summaries for News and Entertainment apps that are generated with ‌Apple Intelligence‌ will be italicized and will be annotated with a "Summarized by ‌Apple Intelligence‌" notice.

Camera App

When you swipe between modes in the Camera app, the button behavior has changed slightly. Before, the button seemed to be fixed with the background sliding back and forth, but now the button moves freely in both directions.

Apple also changed the icon of the Camera app on the Home Screen.

Beta 4 camera app icon on left, beta 3 icon on right​

CarPlay Wallpapers

There are new CarPlay wallpapers available that match the new iOS 26 wallpaper design. The CarPlay wallpapers come in a range of colors, including blue, brown, gray, green, purple, and red. The wallpapers support both light mode and dark mode.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947729641608720627

Apple has also removed some older CarPlay wallpapers that were introduced with earlier versions of iOS.

Passcode Changes

When you tap on Face ID & Passcode in the Settings app, there's an updated interface and wording that reminds you to enter the passcode you use to unlock the iPhone.

Passwords

The Passwords app has an Allow Contacting Websites option, which allows the app to contact websites to show names and icons for apps and websites and to let you know when a website supports passkeys.

With this feature, Passwords now shows custom icons for websites automatically.

Weather

There's a new toggle in the Weather app settings that allows it to access Significant Locations. With the feature enabled, the Weather app is able to provide weather information for places that you are likely to visit.

Reduce Loud Sounds

The "Late Night Mode" option in the Sounds and Haptics section of the Settings app has been renamed to Reduce Loud Sounds, and Apple added a description.

Reduces audio volume range and creates softer sound effects while maintaining the quiet details of the original audio.

Call Screening

Apple updated the Screen Unknown Callers option to add new options. You can turn the feature off, ask unknown callers the reason why they are calling, or silence calls from unknown numbers automatically, sending them to voicemail.

Mail

There are very subtle changes to the design of the Mail app icon.

iOS 26 beta 3 Mail app icon on left, beta 4 icon on right​

Wallpaper

The wallpapers introduced with iOS 26 are now dynamic and will change color over the course of the day... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 4

 

[UMHurricanes34]

I see they never circled back to that Notification Summaries setup page. The design is still head-scratchingly inconsistent and amateurish

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I might be in the minority, but I really enjoy the strong transparency. I didn’t think it would last though. Same as with the Mac OSX Leopard betas that re-introduced menu bar transparency, but Apple heavily toned it down before release. Too many complaints from the chorus — and I would bet most of those complaints were from people who didn’t actually have issues with it but they love to echo whatever niche complaint getting amplified online.

 

[nikhsub1]

Hmm my 'Use Significant Locations' in weather is grayed out...

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Good to have the dynamic wallpaper back

 

[nikhsub1]

Also, Search in contacts was gone for me in beta 3, it is now back in beta 4. That was a real WTF for me.

 

[GrassShark]

That little easter egg line on the envelope still looks like a rendering error. Who's signing this stuff off?

 

[CrysisDeu]

The new slider for camera modes selection in b4 is a UX disaster.

The button slides, the selections also slides at the same time.
When you drag the button to the left, the button moves, the background selections also scrolls to the left. But usually, if you drag to the left, the scrollable content should slide in reverse to the right.

This is so confusing and impossible to use. Just try it out.

And who tf thought it’s a good idea to hide the function toggles behind the mode selection? No one expects clicking on the mode selection again will expand shooting options.

I know I am on beta, but beta testers are only responsible for finding unintended bugs for Apple. The design itself is so horrible and wrong in the first place. That’s skill issue

 

[Jetson]

It seems that the Homebar is still present at the bottom of the Camera app. That is especially annoying at night since that bright white line creates unnecessary glare.

 

[jeremyw013]

i'm not usually one to sit and complain about iOS 26 like most people on the internet but the camera selector is actually awful and should never have been changed.

 

[CrysisDeu]

I see they never circled back to that Notification Summaries setup page. The design is still head-scratchingly inconsistent and amateurish

That’s today’s Apple in a nutshell

 

[GMShadow]

I know I am on beta, but beta testers are only responsible for finding unintended bugs for Apple. The design itself is so horrible and wrong in the first place. That’s skill issue

There's a feedback function, it's not just for bugs.

 

[firewire9000]

Seriously, MacRumors, ALWAYS, I mean, ALWAYS, the before image goes on the left! Not on the right, it doesn’t make any sense! And also, at least be consistent because in the last comparison image, they are swapped.

 

[beant0wn]

The new slider for camera modes selection in b4 is a UX disaster.

The button slides, the selections also slides at the same time.
When you drag the button to the left, the button moves, the background selections also scrolls to the left. But usually, if you drag to the left, the scrollable content should slide in reverse to the right.

This is so confusing and impossible to use. Just try it out.

And who tf thought it’s a good idea to hide the function toggles behind the mode selection? No one expects clicking on the mode selection again will expand shooting options.

I know I am on beta, but beta testers are only responsible for finding unintended bugs for Apple. The design itself is so horrible and wrong in the first place. That’s skill issue

Bingo. All competent designers have long gone from Apple, so counterintuitive and non-productive menu options and things become the norm. It’s not pick it up and know how to use it anymore.

 

[purplefox]

Seriously, MacRumors, ALWAYS, I mean, ALWAYS, the before image goes on the left! Not on the right, it doesn’t make any sense! And also, at least be consistent because in the last comparison image, they are swapped.

ikr? And you always need to read the caption to know which one is beta 3 or 4. 😂

 

[Santig]

That little easter egg line on the envelope still looks like a rendering error. Who's signing this stuff off?

I've been thinking that was an error or something since day 1

 

[CrysisDeu]

There's a feedback function, it's not just for bugs.

what’s the point when it’s this bad. Feedbacks are for improvements, not telling them how to fix their sxxt.

My point is, I will gladly report something they missed. But this is intentional. It’s bad by design, or the lack of design

 

[Rafagon]

What if I want to screen known callers? This isn't possible? I know I can listen to the voicemail they're leaving as they're leaving it. But what if I have very pointed questions even for people on my contacts list?

Why are you calling me?

Can this be resolved via text?

Can you get someone else to resolve this?

 

[spishack]

Juli, I'm begging you, pick one left/right layout and use it for the whole post 😂. Beta 4 right, Beta 3 left. Beta 3 left, Beta 4 right. Beta 4 right of left, Beta 3 right of right. 😵‍💫

 

[klasma]

Seriously, MacRumors, ALWAYS, I mean, ALWAYS, the before image goes on the left! Not on the right, it doesn’t make any sense! And also, at least be consistent because in the last comparison image, they are swapped.

My conspiracy theory is they are trying to drive engagement.

 

[stiligFox]

I might be in the minority, but I really enjoy the strong transparency. I didn’t think it would last though. Same as with the Mac OSX Leopard betas that re-introduced menu bar transparency, but Apple heavily toned it down before release. Too many complaints from the chorus — and I would bet most of those complaints were from people who didn’t actually have issues with it but they love to echo whatever niche complaint getting amplified online.

Same, Liquid Glass reminds me of the old Mac OS X Aqua and Windows 7 Aero days, I’m so glad to be back to that aesthetic and hope they don’t lose sight of the vision amidst all the complaints…

 

[BigBlur]

Seriously, MacRumors, ALWAYS, I mean, ALWAYS, the before image goes on the left! Not on the right, it doesn’t make any sense! And also, at least be consistent because in the last comparison image, they are swapped.

One of the middle ones is also a doozy. I had to do some mental gymnastics with that one, and I still got it wrong at first!

Here, the photo is in the correct order and the caption is technically correct, but they started with the right side first. 🤦‍♂️

Beta 4 on right, beta 3 on left​

 

[MacAndMic]

I can’t believe Apple is so focused on this. You can’t get people to agree what color the sky is and this will just lead to complaining, warranted or not, people don’t like change. But I guess bad press is still press right?

 

[Frosty1]

Ya I like the Liquid Glass, they shouldn't tone it down - of course for legibility make it easier to read if you can (like darkening the background on lock screen is a nice touch) otherwise you can just use reduce transparency

 

[ghostface147]

I don’t like the elongated toggle switches.